Holly's POV
Holly wasn't having nearly as much trouble glidding between the trees as she'd expected. A few close calls here and there, but for the most part, she'd gotten the hang of flying.
Up ahead of her and Mandrake, Sundew, Nettle and Cricket were deep in discusion. Sundew was visably aggitated.
"What do you think they're talking about?", Holy asked Mandrake.
He shrugged.
"Sundew and Nettle nearly always fight. That's why I spent so much time with you before . . . you know."
"I'm sorry, Mandrake", Holly appoligised suddenly.
He shook his head.
"It's not your fault. I'm just worried. I've never been in a war. The last time the Leafwings fought against Wasp, half of our tribe got wiped out."
Holly wanted to comfort him, but whenever she tried to make an inspirational speach, it ended up sounding like a peice of dry, squashed paper.
So, she turned to the only kind of talking she was good at: singing.
"Last thing's last, by the grace of the fire and the flames you're the face of the future, the blood in my veins oh-oooh, the blood in my veins oh-ooh.
But they never did, ebeded, limited, limited, 'til they rained down, it rained down like . . .
PAIN!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer.
PAIN, let the bullets fly, oh, let 'em RAIN, my life, my love, my drive, it came from . . .
PAIN!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer."
Mandrake was looking at her.
"Does that make you feel any better?", she asked.
"A little", he said.
"Thanks."
After continuing to go between flying and hopping from tree-to-tree, they reached the forest palace.
Tsunami and Turtle were still studying the Book, their scales were glowing, and lit up the pages.
"Any luck?", Tsunami asked.
"As far as we know", Sundew said, taking some of the vines attached to the chest and tightening them around herself.
"We should leave a few here", Cricket said.
She took a few roots out of the chest and put them on the throne.
"What about you guys?", Holly asked.
"Found anything?"
"No", Tsunami said.
"There's no much about Phyrria, but Moon did say something like 'A secret hides within their book'. "
"Oh! Is that part of the prophecy?", Cricket asked.
"Part of the gibberish", Tsunami muttered.
"The big secret is the Wasp and the Hivewings have been lying", Holly said.
"That's probably what that's about."
"Yeah, probably", Tsunami agreed.
"Come on, guys, let's go already!", Nettle said impatiently.
"Tsunami", Cricket said, hesitating, "I know it's asking for a lot, but, can you take care of Bumblebee?"
"EKNO!", Bumblebee objected, throwing her arms around Cricket's neck.
"NoBYbE!"
"I'm actually pretty cool once you get to know me", Tsunami said.
"Bumble, be reasonable!", Cricket said.
"There's a war coming and I need to know that you're safe!"
"STaBeBaD!", Bumblebee argued.
"YUUUUUSAFE!"
"I'll be back soon", Cricket promised.
Bumblebee didn't look convinced.
"Bye, little bug", Sundew called as they lifted off.
"You be good, goof-nut!", Holly said.
"HA HA!", Bumblebee declared.
Finally, around midnight, they reached the queen's campment, which took a while to find.
A platform lay balanced between two tree branches, close enough to the tops of the tree to allow moonlight to shine down on it.
Sequoia and Belladonna stood there, giving orders and talking with the incoming dragons.
Sundew and Nettle carefully lowered the chest onto the platform, and landed beside it.
Holly saw Blue and Swordtail, huddled in a corner, quietly arguing with each other.
Cricket ran over to them and Blue's face lit up when he saw her.
"What is this?", Belladonna asked, stalking up to them.
Sequoia stopped talking and turned around.
Her expression was a mix of anxiety, sadness, and disbelief.
"This the antidote to the Breath of evil", Sundew said.
"Hawthorn is still alive and he gave us a very interesting version of the Tree Wars, your Majesty."
"He really found an antidote?", the queen asked softly.
"We think so", Sundew answered.
"It's called Heart of salvation", Mandrake said.
"Then we can finally atone for we what we did", the queen said, taking a long breath.
Sundew took off the vines, and opened the chest.
"Here's what we need to do", she said.
"We go down to the Snarrling River and build a bonfire with these, as close to the hivewing army as possible. We set it on fire, they breathe in the smoke, and we hope that it works."
She turned to Blue.
"We need flamesilk to do that", she said. "If Blue's willing to help us."
"If?", Belladonna hissed.
"And who's givng him that right?"
"I am", Sundew said, frowning.
"It's his choice. If we do otherwise, we're just like Wasp."
She turned back to him.
"But, I am hoping that you will help us."
Cricket twined her tail with his.
"Please?"
"Of course", Blue said.
"I'll go down there and light it myself."
He looked at Queen Sequoia.
"But I want you to promise that you won't take any part of my fire to hurt dragons.
I don't want to find out three days from now that my flameslik was used to burn down a hive."
Belladonna hissed.
"I promise", Sequoia said.
"Belladonna?"
"I promise too", she said sulkily."
"Then let's get to work", Sequoia said.
"I'll have some of my dragons build the pyre tonight, while the Hivewings are still frozen, At sunrise, Blue, I want you to go down there and light it."
"Why not now?", Nettle asked.
"Because I want to see their eyes", the queen said.
"I need to know for sure that it worked. But we need to be ready now, in case they try something."
Blue looked terrified, but he nodded.
"I'll help build the pyre", Sundew voluneered.
"Me too", Holly said.
"No."
The queen patted Holly's shoulder.
"I want you two to get some rest."
"Rest?", Holly protested.
"Yes", Sequoia said.
"You've been travelling all day and your hip needs to heal, Holly. Sundew, you need to sleep because as soon as you wake up, you'lll need to help grow more of the antidote. There are lots of Hivewings out there, we need lots."
Now that Holly thought about it, she was really tired. So tired, she didn't even stop to wonder how the queen knew about her encounter with the sundew.
"Okay. But only for a few hours or so", she finally said.
Sundew took a few roots from the chest and put them into one of her pouches.
The two of them watched as the guards carried the chest off, flying in the direction of the river.
Holly twitched, and not just from her ADHD; she'd never felt more anxious and afraid than she did now.
What will happen tomarow?
What will I be able to do if there's a war?
And I still haven't told Sundew and the others the truth about me.
How will I be able to do that?
Suddenly, she heard a loud grunt.
She opened her pouch.
Bait the Glow-toad was giving her a sympathetic look.
"At least I have you", she remarked.
She yawned.
Her eyelids fell and she driffted off into a uneasy sleep.
A/N: Hope you liked this chapter!
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Wordcount: 1565
Renx out!